Dear Editor,
I did not shrink earlier from speaking out against two erring (I believe) AFC members. Now I take the lead in calling upon Mr Nigel Hughes to come forward and throw himself at the mercy of the Guyanese people. While I see his failure as serious, I do not think it is fatal; or that it should be.
Thus, I encourage him to come clean and fully so, and to rededicate his energies and efforts to lift this suffocating society out of its unyielding political and social morass. In so doing, Mr Hughes will not only test himself, environment, and process. He will test all of us, too.
Is this society all about ‘gotcha?’ Is it only about the recriminatory? Can it not journey beyond the wrathful and vengeful? Is it not time for us to be another way? The Americans believe in second chances. I do too. I say let it be so. The first step resides with Mr Hughes.
Separately, but using the Hughes saga as context, a clear lesson is imparted to participating and observing citizens. They are: Stop playing games; you are identifiable. Take a real genuine stand for country; let neither cost nor sacrifice intimidate. Refrain from operating in the shadows; you are known, you will be known. Cease attempting to mislead your countrymen; they will not be fooled in the long run. And last, resist the grasping vacuum of surreptitious schemes that enrich quietly and for the time being only.
All of this is bigger than Mr Hughes and the AFC. It is about civil society compromised by selfish pursuits, and naked before the discerning eye. This is about the Persauds and Singhs and Williamses and Joneses who sell and buy, or are bought for a pittance. Make a break. Take a stand. Give up the cash. Let the chips fall. Yes, there are still such things as God, country, and family.
Perhaps we will all be better for such standards. The ball is now in Mr Hughes’ court. And that of his keenly watching audience.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
